Drank: Blonde IPA (Arlington Club)

The Arlington Club was founded way back in 1867, with the
purpose of giving men with names you’d recognize from street signs a
little quietude in which to smoke cigars, cut skyline-shaping business
deals and choose leaders for the citizens to democratically elect. As
old-money social clubs go, the Arlington seems pretty chill. Racial and
gender barriers have been down for several decades. Jeans are banned,
but jackets are not required. Members are asked to neither reprimand nor
tip the help. As you’d expect, the club is known to maintain a deep
wine list and plenty of old Scotch. More surprisingly, the Arlington
Club brews its own beer. Even in Portland, it’s odd to find the town’s
most prominent businessmen interested in suds. We found a member kind
enough to share a growler of the most exclusive beer in town, a Blonde
IPA. With a deep copper hue and robust body, it would be on the hefty
side for an IPA, let alone a blonde. Big malts are paired with a little
funk and a lasting pine-resin bitterness that’ll all but stick your
tongue to your teeth. The rich man’s beer is drinkable, certainly, but
nothing you need to bother yourself begging an invitation to try.